The Reged seems to fit my needs, high capacity, low weight, low cost, and it looks easy to setup. I've heard that they make good equipment, but insite from actual users is always a plus. I've checked the total length and it seems just right after I put a head, AS clamp, and camera on it. Redged RMC 532 Monopod Tutorial

Full disclosure.....I haven't used the tripod a whole lot but, I've extended a d folded in the dark (doing moon shots) and they seem to lock/unlock smoothly. Once set up, they seem secure. They are twist locks, as you know.

Never used a Redged but I have a really nice Carbon Induro Mono I use with a 300 f/2.8. It has the same specs as redged, under 100$ and I'd put it up there with my Gitzo's any day.

What is the model number? The one I looked at (CM-14) was 47.9 inches, making it 4 inches too short for me. I'd need the $152 CM34 to be over 62 inches. There is a CM-14 for sale on Craigs list locally for $50, but I need the eye level to be 70 inches or higher on my 5D MK III, and if I use it with my SX50, another inch or two is needed.

I've got the Redged carbon fiber tripod: RTF-428 which I use with my 5D3 and a list of lenses and I love this tripod. I've also got a carbon Gitzo and a Manfrotto but find I'm always grabbing the Redged. One particular quality I like about the Redged is that you can loose or tighten the legs without the other portion of the leg spinning. It is a one-handed operation.

I'm using a RRS BH-55 ballhead also. For me, this is the best package.

Logged

A few cameras and lenses and a lot of creative energy and imagination."You never learn anything until you mess it up."

I finally received the Monopod yesterday. I mounted the Manfroto head and Kirk AS clamp. The tripod is plenty tall for me, so I can tilt it at a angle by putting the foot out away from me, this works well to stabilize it.

One thing I learned with the head, it doesn't rotate so when mounting a lens by its tripod foot, I have to loosen the head and rotate it 90 degrees if I want to mount the camera and a smaller lens like my 24-70mm f/2.8 L. It doesn't take long, but its something to slow you down if you are changing lenses in the field.

I have only used it with my 5D MK III and 24-70 and 100-400L + 1.4 TC, it does work well with that combination.

The leg locks do tighten nicely, the anti rotation feature works, and finger tight is all you need.

Here are a couple of shots takes just after I received it to test our f/8 AF with my 100-400L

This is a distant shot of a neighbors flag pole, over 1/4 mile away so there is haze.

This is a woodpecker on out crabapple tree about 30 ft away I cropped it to a small fraction of its size. Even at 580mm, you need 4X that much to fill a frame. There were some nasty shadows that I lightened up, I should have used my better beamer, but the bird would have been gone by then. I did a quick AFMA be looking at a image and estimating the value based on my experience. It seems to be pretty close.